


A Beautiful Mind

by Aryzia



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs A Hug, Eleven | Jane Hopper POV, Gen, Minor Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Self-Discovery, Self-Reflection, Stranger things season 1 & 2, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23988847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aryzia/pseuds/Aryzia
Summary: Seeing the events of seasons 1 and 2 through Eleven’s eyes. An exploration of her personal journey that we didn’t get to totally see in the show.*On Hold*
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Benny Hammond, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper & The Demogorgon, Eleven | Jane Hopper & The Party, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Martin Brenner & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. The Escape

**Author's Note:**

> This is a different kind of fic than most people are used to. I’m mostly writing this because I love Eleven with my whole heart and wanted to spend more time with her character. Thanks for taking a look, I hope you enjoy! :)

Eleven’s breath came in short gasps as she raced down the narrow hallway. All around her men in lab coats were frantically rushing past her, pushing and shouting, while the lights lining the hallway rapidly blinked on and off. Behind her came the chilling sound of a man’s scream, and the screeching of her faceless nightmare-come-true. Eleven’s skin crawled. Run, she thought keep running. Panic fueled her every movement, fear coated her every thought. She rounded the corner and continued running down another long hall; turning and running, running and turning, she hadn’t a clue where to go, she just knew she had to keep going. 

Almost completely out of breath, Eleven stumbled into a room with stairs traveling upward and hastily made her way above ground. Locking herself in a small room, she finally paused to compose herself. She was still wet from the bath, and small droplets of water dripped from her suit and pooled around her feet where she stood, trembling. The room she was in had noisy machines lined up on the back wall and cabinets along the sides, with tables of folded clothes in the middle. Wrestling out of her wet bathing suit, she undressed and grabbed a gown off one of the tables and threw it on, before cautiously opening the door to look around. She saw a group of panicked workers making their way toward a pair of doors, get away, she realized, follow them. She was hurrying to see where they were headed when she suddenly collided with a uniformed man sprinting from the other direction, and fell backwards. Eleven froze, expecting him to lift her up and lock her away, like they always did when she failed or misbehaved. But the man hardly noticed, and instead turned and continued running without so much as a glance at the confused girl in front of him.

Eleven made her way through the doors and finally found herself outside the lab. The air was frigid and it was almost completely dark out. She had never been this close to freedom. Outside it was calm, a stark contrast to the happenings just inside the doors behind her, but Eleven knew it was only a matter of time until that scene spilled out of the lab and into the unsuspecting world beyond. Underground, a monster was loose, and Eleven needed to get as far away as she could from it. 

She took off for the fences the lined the boundaries of the lab, but stumbled and fell on the slippery, uneven grass. Stunned, Eleven lay motionless for a moment. She’d never seen grass before, only in picture books, and she was surprised at how soft it turned out to be. She found herself running her hand along the short blades, mesmerized at the dew that dripped from her fingers...   
“Over there! I think I see her!” The loud shout jolted Eleven to reality, and panic flooded her once more when she saw the men and their flash lights headed straight for her. She scrambled to her hands and knees and desperately began to crawl. Just beyond, the ground dipped away slightly and she tumbled downward to where a dark hole yawned in front of her. The hole was pitch black and the ground was hard and damp, but there was no other way. Eleven glanced on last time at the party of guards after her before she turned and plunged into the darkness.


	2. The Stranger

When Eleven woke she was stiff, cold and confused. For a few heartbeats she couldn’t recall the events of the previous night and stared, bewildered, at her unfamiliar surroundings; but in an instant she remembered. The bath, the monster, the horror filled screams of its victims, her panicked flight into darkness... She remembered it all. In the pit of her stomach she could still feel her own terror, a dull ache that would soften occasionally but never cease. It wasn’t a new sensation. In fact Eleven couldn’t remember a time when there wasn’t fear subtly gnawing away at her insides, but now it was renewed, transformed into something bigger that she couldn’t ignore. Eleven was alone. Truly and utterly alone in a world she knew nothing about, with no one to guide her. She was a doe-eyed flustered fugitive who couldn’t even give names to the things that frightened her. And yet, in some strange way, she’d never felt so free. With all that had happened one would think her fear would only tighten its hold on her, and dictate her every move, but Eleven realized something as she woke up tangled amongst the roots and leaves of the woods that morning: she was no longer a slave to fear. It still lingered within her of course, but now there was a new emotion brewing within her veins- one that overpowered all her other instincts: curiosity. It was new and faint, but she could still feel it despite the circumstances.

Eleven slowly sat up, brushing off the leaves that had fallen on her during the night. Her bones ached and muscles throbbed from the exercise the night before. She had never run so long and so fast in her life, but then again, she’d never been allowed to run at all, or even be outside the lab. She stood and stretched the stiffness from her body, and looked around. What now? She pondered. Where could she go, what could she do? These were questions she’d never had to ask herself before, but it didn’t overwhelm Eleven. To her, everything was so new and so... wonderful. Even the soreness in her legs.

For the first time, Eleven got a real look at where she was. Surrounding her on all sides were trees, huge tall trees with long outstretched branches and hundreds of colorful leaves that would occasionally shake in the wind and float pleasantly down to the ground. They were taller than anything Eleven could ever imagine, and they were spectacular. Even more amazing were the many animals that scurried and fluttered about; some birds here, a jackrabbit there, a doe and her fawn strolling in the morning sunlight. It was all so mesmerizing to the young girl who stood in their midst. For a long while Eleven simply walked, soaking up the new sights, sounds and smells that crossed her path. Barefoot, she timidly roamed the woods, savoring each new bewildering sensation. She ran her hands along the rough bark of tree trunks, listening to the crunch sound the leaves made with every step, and pausing when the breeze picked up to close her eyes and feel the wind on her face and hear the leaves scuttle across the ground. She didn’t stop to think of how long this world had been kept from her, or grow bitter that she’d missed out on so much. She simply basked in her new freedom, grateful that she’d finally got the chance to witness these beautiful things. And she would’ve continued on forever if it weren’t for the growling in her belly. 

Food. How did she not think of it sooner? She needed food, and warmth too. Eleven was beginning to realize just how cold it was outside and her hospital gown did little to keep out the chill of the November air. She began walking with a purpose, more alert now, and attentive. Soon the trees started to thin out and Eleven spotted a road, and a building. It was smaller than the lab, with cars parked about it and Eleven could see there were people inside, instantly making her nervous. It was a peculiar sight to her but from the scents that wafted from there in her direction, she could tell there was food inside. Her heart leapt at the prospect of food and warmth. Overpowering her weariness, Eleven cautiously approached the building. When she got near enough, she peered inside through one of the windows. There sat a few men dressed and talking much differently than the ones she’d come to know and fear. They too, were new to her, with their peculiar gestures and bellowing laughter, but even more interesting to Eleven was the food they had at their tables. Sneaking around, she crept through a back door and tip-toed through a room and to the kitchen, weary of the voices that came from the next room over. 

There, sitting on the counter, was a red basket with odd looking morsels in it. Eleven carefully made her way over and picked a singular item up to inspect. It was brownish-yellow and greasy, but the smell was more than tempting. Eleven took a bite, then another. The taste was different than any kind of food she’d had before and incredibly delicious. Once agin reminded of how hungry she was, she began devouring the tasty snacks, temporarily forgetting the men in the next room.   
“Hey!” A large bearded man had turned and was glaring right at her. Without a second thought, Eleven grabbed the basket and fled to the exit, but just before she reached the door a firm hand gripped her arm and yanked so hard that she dropped the food. The man grasped her shoulders, shook her and growled “You think you can steal from me, boy-!” The fury in his expression disappeared as his gaze focused on her “What the hell?” He muttered to himself.  
Eleven trembled in his grasp and she could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she stared at the man, wide-eyed, awaiting a punishment. He let go of her but continued to stare quizzically at her. Realizing how frightened she was, he took a step back and put his hands up in the air “Oh-okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, look-“ he took a few more steps back, his hands still in the air “I’m not gonna hurt you, alright? You just startled me is all. But it’s fine, you can stay here, and I...” he glanced around the kitchen “I can get you some more food, is that what you want?” His voice had turned gentle and his face was softer now as he spoke. Eleven relaxed a little and, reluctantly, nodded her head. Her heart was still beating fast but the man didn’t seam like a threat, and she was very hungry.   
“Okay? Good, great, lemme just...” his voice trailed away as he looked around once more, “Here, you can come in here and sit down if you want.” He gestured to the cooking area she was just in. Eleven hesitated when she saw the other strangers from the next room over, who were peering back to where she was; she looked from them to the man, then back at them. Feeling weary, she instinctively took a step back, and the man seemed to understand. Taking in a deep breath he said “it’s alright, it’s fine, if you don’t want them here I can get them to leave, is that what you want?” Once again she nodded slowly. “Right, wait here, okay?” Eleven watched as he walked into the other room and spoke to the strangers. For some reason she didn’t feel all that scared or suspicious of the stranger, like she usually did when she met someone new. There was something about the way he spoke to her, it was much different than anyone else had ever addressed her before. It was as if Eleven could trust that what he was saying was the truth, and she didn’t have to fear him asking for something in return. 

Eleven watched the group of men leave, waving to the bearded man and continuing their loud conversation outside as they got in their trucks to drive away. The man turned back to her “It’s alright now,” he said “no one else is here, you can come in and sit down, wait here while I make you some food, okay?” Tentatively, Eleven ventured foreword until she was in the kitchen again. The stranger inquired “Is that all you have to wear?” He was looking at her hospital gown, dirty and torn from the night before. Eleven was confused, this was the only garment she’d ever been allowed to wear, save for the swimsuit she wore in the bath. She blinked at him, not able to process the words needed to explain it to him. He sighed and scratched his bald head “let’s see... I think I’ve got some spare clothes around here somewhere. You probably want to change out of that thing, seeing how it’s torn up and all.” He rummaged around until he came up with a large yellow shirt.  
“This is all I have for now, but I bet it’d be more comfortable than that dirty gown, here” he handed over the shirt “take it, you can wear this.” Eleven examined it in her hands, unsure of what to do.   
“Do you... Do you need me to help you? Here-“ he reached toward her and immediately she backed away, accidentally knocking over some pans on a nearby shelf. The noise made her flinch and gasp.   
“Woah! Woah, it’s okay, I didn’t mean to scare you, I just thought you might need help changing.” Eleven looked nervously at the dishes on the ground, then back at him “It’s fine, don’t worry about that, I’ll clean it up. How’s this, how about you go into that room, I won’t bother you- I’ll stay in here, and you can change if you want to and wait while I make that food you wanted, sound good?” She glanced from him to the room with the tables that the strangers were just in, then back at him again, before slowly making her way out of the kitchen. The man pushed the door open for her and she walked in, then watched as he propped the door open “In case you need me,” he said over his shoulder. Eleven just stood there and stared unblinking at the open door; she genuinely did not know they could be propped open that way.


End file.
